50th anniversary reissue of Mike Oldfield's Hergest Ridge to be released in June

(Image credit: Getty Images/Michael Putland)

Mike Oldfield's second studio album, 1974's Hergest Ridge, is to be reissued in various formats to celebrate the album's 50th anniversary through UMC on June 27.

The follow-up to Oldfield's groundbreaking 1973 debut album, Tubular Bells, will be released as a double-vinyl set which will feature Oldfield's 2010 remix of the album (for the very first time on vinyl), alongside a brand new, half-speed remaster by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios of the 1974 album mix.

There will also be a special Blu-ray edition that brings together a brand new ATMOS and stereo mix by David Kosten, Mike Oldfield’s 2010 5.1 and stereo mix, the 1976 Boxed Quad mix and the 1974 original stereo mix.

The new reissues come with new artwork approved by Oldfield (including new photographs taken on the Ridge in 2023) alongside new quotes from the man himself.

Following the enormous success of Tubular Bells, Oldield retreated out of London, driving west and arriving in Kington, a beautiful market town in Herefordshire which is dominated by Hergest Ridge, the large elongated hill with breathtaking views that stretches from the town to Gladestry in Wales.

Oldfield spent his time flying his gliders on the Ridge and playing in the local inn, Penrhos Court, and created his new album at The Beacon, his then home on the Welsh/English border.

Pre-order Hergest Ridge 50th Anniversary.

Writer and broadcaster Jerry Ewing is the Editor of Prog Magazine which he founded for Future Publishing in 2009. He grew up in Sydney and began his writing career in London for Metal Forces magazine in 1989. He has since written for Metal Hammer, Maxim, Vox, Stuff and Bizarre magazines, among others. He created and edited Classic Rock Magazine for Dennis Publishing in 1998 and is the author of a variety of books on both music and sport, including Wonderous Stories; A Journey Through The Landscape Of Progressive Rock.